Milwaukee Brewers reliever Devin Williams was named the 2020 National League Rookie of the Year on Monday night. He beat out Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm and Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth for the award. Williams received 14 of the 30 first-place votes, with nine going to Bohm, six to Cronenworth, and one to Dodgers pitcher Tony Gonsolin.
Williams, 26, made his MLB debut in August 2019 and was on Milwaukee’s big league roster the entire 2020 season. He surrendered just one earned run (0.33 ERA) and eight hits (0.63 WHIP) in 27 innings this season while striking out 53 batters. It works out to 1.2 WAR in only 27 innings. He joins Ryan Braun (2007) and Pat Listach (1992) as the only Brewers to be named Rookie of the Year.
For much of the season Cronenworth, 26, was the Rookie of the Year favorite. But he struggled late, and finished with a still excellent .285/.354/.477 batting line and 15 doubles in 54 games. The 24-year-old Bohm made his debut on Aug. 13 and had a big impact in 44 games, hitting .338/.400/.481 with four homers and 23 RBI.
In the American League, Mariners slugger Kyle Lewis unanimously took home Rookie of the Year honors.
As a reminder, voting for all major awards takes places after the regular season and before the postseason. These are regular season awards only.
The Rookie of the Year awards were the first of the major MLB awards to be handed out this week. Keep up with all the awards finalists and schedule here.
